THE JOY OF SERENDIPITY!
Speaking at the American Specialty Toy Retailers Association in Baltimore
This week I was honored to be the closing keynote speaker for the American Specialty Toy Retailers Association in Baltimore. As usual, I arrived the night before and checked into the hotel about 5:00 pm. I went to the convention center, checked out the room and equipment, and then began to think about dinner.
As many of you know who have heard me speak, one of the things I dislike the most about travel is eating all alone, and the usual alternative is so simply have room service. However, I really did want to experience the wonderful seafood of the area, so I called the concierge for advice. Since I was alone, she recommended a seafood restaurant that had a shuttle to pick me up and bring me back, so I made a 7:00 pm reservation.
When I went out to get into the shuttle, there were three other people there – Walter, Jennifer, and Martha. To be friendly, I asked them if they were with ASTRA (the convention where I was speaking). They were, so I told them I was going to be their keynote speaker the next day. They then asked if I were alone, and when I said, “Yes,” they graciously invited me to join them.
As we talked over dinner, one of them asked me where I lived and how long I had lived there. Then, of course, the question became where I had come from. When I said the Chicago area, two of them replied that they, too, had lived in the suburbs of Chicago. Amazingly, as we talked more, it turned out that Martha had lived IN OUR TOWN of Western Springs, ONE BLOCK away from where we had raised all of our children, and BOTH Martha and Walter had gone to Lyons Township High School, the school my children attended and where I had taught for several years before they were born. What a delightful, serendipitous experience – to have four random people “happen” to meet in a shuttle, share dinner, and find all these connections!
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My closing keynote at ASTRA -- "Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm™-Creating Workplaces of Passion, Purpose and Productivity"
The next morning I was doing a breakout session at 8:30 before my keynote. While I was setting up early in the morning, a lovely woman named Cynthia came and said she would be the person introducing me. I just happened to glance at her nametag and saw her home as SARASOTA, FLORIDA. I could not believe it! Out of several thousand people at this convention, the ONE person who had been asked to introduce me was from the same city as me! Even the contact person who had set that up did not realize we were from the same town. Cynthia’s store is just about two or three miles from where I live on the beach. Again, what an amazing coincidence……or was it????
I truly believe that wherever we may find ourselves in the world, there are always wonderful people and delightful serendipitous experiences if we just take time to connect and communicate. Isn’t life fun????
To learn more about Barbara’s work, go to www.barbaraglanz.com
